92 SHORT STORIES
It might have passed before him, but he faac
never scrutinized it. This day he had wished tc
see what there was in it and got entangled. The
woman treated him as a possible companion,
Other women had treated him as a senior and a
revered person; this young woman seemed to
think of him as not different from any worldly
man of years and as her equal. " What a funny
thing,53 the ascetic said to himself. "It would
be funny to frighten her a little." Playfulness is
infectious. Pass a broom-stick in front of a sleepy
cat; it wakes up to play at catching mice. Sit
before your child and pretend to cry and shut
your eyes and say, "Mother beat me??; the child
will give up its other play and try to pull your
hand away from your eyes. Similarly, the mind
of the ascetic which had engaged itself in other
matters and never thought of woman as the object
of any interest was wheedled into playfulness by
the ostentatious suspicion and the intentionally
provocative playfulness of this woman. " What
is the matter with me ?" thought the ascetic;
" this is getting absurd ;" and held himself together
and proceeded to meditate.
In his daily meditation he used to have in his
mind the figure of the Goddess presiding in his
hermitage. Today with the placid countenance